A ship that was lost at sea nearly 170 years ago has been found - at the bottom of the Arctic.

The shipwreck found at the bottom of the Arctic a month ago has been confirmed as HMS Erebus, which went missing during a daring expedition.

Earlier this month experts discovered the ship 36 metres below sea level but were unsure if it was Sir John Franklin’s flagship or HMS Terror.

Lost Ship: HMS Erebus was lost at sea almost 170 years ago (Image: PA)

The two vessels, carrying 128 sailors on board, set out to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1845 but both sank without trace.

Yesterday Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed the historic discovery saying: "I am delighted to confirm that we have identified which ship from the Franklin expedition has been found. It is in fact the HMS Erebus."

The wreck is the one archaeologists were most hoping to find since it was Franklin’s own ship.

Search Party: Ryan Harris (L) and Jonathan Moore (C), both senior underwater archeologists at Parks Canada, took part in the search for the lost ship (Image: Getty Images)

Now they hope to retrieve several of the explorer’s personal effects believing the the icy waters will have preserved books, charts, ship’s logs, or anything else that could hold clues to the lives and deaths of Franklin and his crew.

The two ships left England 168 years ago, but were locked in ice in Victoria Strait from many months.

Two whaling vessels saw the boats near Greenland in August 1845 but they were never seen alive again.

Doomed Voyage: HMS Erebus was Captain John Franklin's flagship

Franklin died in the spring of 1847 and in 1848 the 104 surviving men abandoned their ships and tried to walk south to safety. None of them made it.

Captain Franklin's wife Lady Jane commissioned search parties and even left cans of food on the ice, hoping her husband, 59, would find them.

In 1859 an expedition to nearby King William Island found a note in a cairn which said they abandoned their ships after getting trapped in ice.